It hardly seems an abuse of privilege, even in the democratic 20th Century, for a king to think he could buy a gift for his children without having to prove his identity. And yet that tiny perk was denied to King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden several years ago when he was out shopping for Christmas presents in Stockholm. A clerk in a toy store demanded to see identification when he tried to pay by credit card. That Carl Gustaf--the inheritor of the throne of Gustavus Adolphus,...

Big second half carries ODU past Marshall There is something about Marshall that brings out the best in Old Dominion -- over the final 20 minutes. The sixth-seeded Monarchs scored the first eight points of the second half and never looked back, roaring past the 11th-seeded Thundering Herd 73-58 Wednesday in the second round of the Conference USA tournament at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. It was the second time in two weeks the Monarchs poured it on the...

Not every business owner wants his product flying out the door. It happened to Tim Pless again recently, when a 4-year-old ending a tour of the flight house at the all-a-flutter butterfly farm stood too long with the screen door open, and one of Pless' prized monarchs sensed opportunity. "He's flying away," one of the child's classmates pointed out, as Pless' stock slowly soared sky high. The escaped lepidopteran would have been turned loose eventually anyway, but...

The Sports Xchange Old Dominion 68, East Carolina 47 NORFOLK, Va. -- For Old Dominion, the plan was for defense to set up the offense. The strategy worked perfectly Thursday night. On one end, the Monarchs harassed East Carolina into its worst shooting performance of the season, 29.8 percent. On the other, Old Dominion shot a season-high 59.2 percent. Not surprisingly, the result was a resounding 68-47 victory for the Monarchs in the teams' final Conference USA regular-season game...

CHASING MONARCHS: Migrating With the Butterflies of Passage By Robert Michael Pyle Houghton Mifflin, 307 pages, $24 Three summers ago, naturalist Robert Michael Pyle set out to "migrate with the monarchs," as he puts it, heading north from his home in Washington State to meet up with southward-bound monarch butterflies in British Columbia, then follow them south toward the Mexican border and their wintering grounds. Pyle's stated scientific aim was to...

An inspiring new experience just alighted at the Museum of Science and Industry 's giant-domed Omnimax. A 40-minute documentary from SK Films, "Flight of the Butterflies" follows twin tracks: actual footage of monarchs during their mind-blowing annual migration from Mexico to Canada and back again; and actor recreations of scientists' decades-long quest to discover the winter destination of thousands of butterflies. The mission culminated in January 1975, when a young pair of...

Last January, images of their frozen bodies littering the snow-covered landscape appeared across the U.S. Monarch butterflies--thousands of them--had perished after a sudden and severe snowstorm in Mexico, the migratory home of the distinctive orange-and-black creatures. After the storm hit one of the prime winter roosting sites in the high-elevation fir forests of Mexico, some experts feared that the population of the monarch, which also happens to be the Illinois...

The Sports Xchange ODU heats up after halftime, downs Marshall NORFOLK, Va. -- Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones freely admits he lit into his players after their subpar first half Thursday night against Marshall. His exact words will have to remain in the locker room. "You couldn't print anything I said," Jones said. "I was angry, and I challenged the guys. I wanted them to play the way they are capable of playing. " Jones' message apparently got through, as the...

Mendel coach Mike Manderino has experienced so many ups and downs in the South Side school's final year that he can readily empathize with the Sears Tower elevator operator. A few weeks before the season's first practice, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced that Unity Catholic and Willibrord High Schools would consolidate with Mendel at the end of the 1988 school year. Although Mendel would remain at 250 E. 111th St., its name would be changed to St. Martin de Porres and the team's...

The Sports Xchange Old Dominion 70, Marshall 63 NORFOLK, Va. -- Old Dominion connected on 10 of its first 13 second-half field-goal attempts and roared past Marshall 70-63 Thursday night at the Constant Convocation Center. With the victory, the Monarchs (14-15, 8-6) assured themselves of finishing no worse than ninth in Conference USA. The top nine teams receive first-round byes in the conference tournament March 11-15 in El Paso, Texas. Old Dominion trailed 31-27 early in the second...

The children spread their orange, red and yellow wings and turned in a circle. "What's you're name?" asked Sarah Alsum, a naturalist for the village of Palos Heights. "Butterfly," answered 3-year-old Stephanie Cap of Palos Heights, softly speaking into a microphone. Stephanie was one of several children who donned wings for the parade that was part of the Monarch Butterfly Festival at the Lake Katherine Nature Preserve Sunday. No monarchs, however, were in sight.

The Sports Xchange Old Dominion 55, Rice 51 NORFOLK, Va. -- Old Dominion guard Ambrose Mosley made his team's only 3-pointer of the second half at just the right time, and the Monarchs held off Rice 55-51 Thursday night at the Constant Convocation Center. The Monarchs led 38-31 midway through the second half before Rice used a 15-2 spurt to vault in front. The Owls went on to lead by seven, but the Monarchs chipped away and finally pulled even with Mosley buried his 3-pointer with 2:38...

Several hundred butterflies stole the show at the 7th annual Monarch Butterfly Fest in Palos Heights Sunday with their grace and soft touch. Lines of visitors spent time in the walk-through butterfly tent to view the insects close up. Some of the attendees said they didn't realize butterflies are insects and are essential to the environment. The event at the Lake Katherine Nature Preserve was a cornucopia of insect exhibits and activities that included chain saw art, wood carving,...

The Sports Xchange UTEP 63, Old Dominion 49 NORFOLK, Va. - UTEP forward Julian Washburn scored 18 points and led a suffocating defensive effort as the Miners notched their eighth straight victory with a 63-49 decision over foul-plagued Old Dominion on Saturday. The 6-8 Washburn scored 10 of his points in the opening 12 minutes of the second half as the Miners (18-6, 8-1 Conference USA) gradually expanded a 10-point halftime lead to 19. The Monarchs, meanwhile, made just three of their first 18...

SportsDirect Inc. Recap: Holy Cross 46, Old Dominion 45 Holy Cross 46, Old Dominion 45: Cullen Hamilton scored 15 points off the bench, including the go-ahead free throw with four seconds left, leading the Crusaders over the host Monarchs in the season opener for both teams. Justin Burrell (15 points) appeared to ice the game for for the Crusaders (1-0), burying a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, before Dimitri Batten tied the game at 45-45 with 12 seconds to play. After...

The Sports Xchange UTEP defense smothers Old Dominion NORFOLK, Va. -- Count Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones among the increasing number of believers in the quality of UTEP's combination defenses. "A lot of times, with the triangle-and-two, box-and-one, people call those junk defenses," Jones said. "There's nothing junk about (UTEP's) defense. " That was certainly the case on Saturday night when the Miners suffocated foul-plagued Old Dominion 63-49 at the Constant Center for their...